Life-preserver.



G. KRIEGER & w. K. TALLMAN.

LIFE PRESERVER. APPLIUATION 1 1 312 .Anafs, 1909.

Patented July 27, 1909.

Arm/ Iver G. KRIEGER & W. K. TALLMAN.

LIFE PRESERVEB. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 5,1908.

Patented July 27, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 FIGL.

WITNESSES ATTORNEY ii sn GUSTAVE KRIEGER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, AND WILLIAM K. TALLMAN, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS TO KRIEGER SHOE COMPANY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK,

A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

LIFE-PRESERVER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GUs'rAvE KRIEGER and "WILLIAM K. TALLMAN, respectively of Brooklyn, city and State of New York, and

5 of Jersey City and State of New Jersey,

have invented certain new and useful improvements in Life-Preservers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification, such as will enable others skilled in the 1 art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates particularly to those life preservers which are adapted to encircle the neck of the wearer with a view to raising 5 the center of buoyancy of the person to whom the life preserver is applied and avoid the danger of that person capsizing or becoming overturned when floating with the life preserver in the water. A serious disadvantage of life preservers of this type has heretofore existed in as much as the head of the wearer was not borne by the life preserver sufficiently high, and in rough water there was danger of the wearer becoming se- 5 riously inconvenienced by the spray and breaking waves. We attain this end by providing at the front and back of the life preserver taperingelongated buoyant members extending well down along the trunk below the arm pits and other buoyant members of a length equal to the breadth of the shoulders and which are designed to lie over the shoulders in such a manner that they will in no way interfere with the free movement of the arms of the wearer. In addition to this, we hold the life preserver in place by means of a tape or tapes which pass the elongated members at the back and front and under the arm pits of the wearer thus drawing the elongated sections of the life preserver tightly against the body and preventing them from raising in the water and striking the head of the wearer or otherwise interfering with his movements.

Our invention involves various other features of importance and all will be fully set forth hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate, as an example,

one manner of embodying the various features of our invention, in which drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective viewshowing the life preserver in use; Fig. 2 is a plan view Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 5, 1908.

Patented July 27, 1909.

Serial No. 447,122.

of the life preserver spread out flat; and lliig. 3 is a detail section on the line 33 of The life preserver as hereshown is constructed of a canvasor other flexible fabric body sheet a, the marginal form of which corresponds to the general outline of the life preserver as shown in Fig. 2, that is to say, elongated at the back and front and coinparatively narrow intermediate these points in accordance with the width of the shoulders of a normal adult or other person to whom the life preserver may be adapted.

Z) indicates the buoyant bodies of the life preserver which may be and preferably are of cork although other materials and air may be employed if desired. These buoyant bodies are all of them tapering and at the front and back they are considerably elongated and increased in size, their lower portions being broader and more massive than the upper portions. The buoyant bodies 6 are inclosed in individual casings 0 which are spaced from each other to give the life preserver entire flexibility and stitched or otherwise secured to the body sheet a.

To the elongated casings 0 at the front and rear are secured tape guides d which may be of any desired construction and are located on the outer or top sides of the casings. Through these tape guides one or more tapes 0 are passed. The drawings show a single tape which is preferable for its simplicity. The life preserver is applied to the shoulders of the wearer in the manner shown in Fig. 1 in which the short blocks lie on top of the shoulders and the long blocks at the back and front projecting down well below the shoulder blades and arm pits. The tape is passed under the arm pits and over the elongated blocks at the back and front and tied in front as shown. This draws down on the whole structure holding it snugly on I the shoulders and it also exerts an inward pressure clamping the elongated blocks or bodies against the trunk of the wearer and lowering the center of buoyancy to overcome the disadvantage which I have hereto fore pointed out.

The device as thus constructed in no way hinders the motions of the wearer and may be worn by persons engaged in the ordinary duties aboard vessels without hindrance of any sort. wearer taking the water the device will bear the wearers head well above the surface leaving the body submerged and thus maintaining the wearer in the safest possible position both for swimming and resting on the surface of the water. 7

Having thus described .our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A life preserver adapted to encircle the neck of the wearer and having a number of comparatively short buoyant bodies adapted to lie over the shoulders of the wearer and elongated buoyant members at the back and front adapted to project down well along the trunk of the wearer and a strap engaging said elongated buoyant bodies at the back and front and passing under the arm pits of the wearer to hold the life preserver in place.

2. A life preserver having a number of buoyant bodies adapted to lie over the shoulders of the wearer and other elongated buoyant bodies adapted to project down along the trunk of the wearer at the back and front and a strap passing outside of said O in place.

8. A life preserver having a number of lVhen so applied in event of the buoyant bodies adapted to lie over the shoulders of the wearer and other and elongated buoyant bodies adapted to extend, clownward along the trunk of the wearer at the back and front to a point below the arm pits and means for holding the life preserver in 7 place.

4. A life preserver having a body sheet of flGXlblG material of a form corresponding substantially to the marginal form of the life preserver, a series of independent casings containing buoyant bodies and secured to the upper side of said body sheet, other elongated casings containing buoyant bodies, also secured to the upper side of the said body sheet at the back and front respectively, the casings being individual and spaced from each other to allow free relative movement, means for holding the life preserver in place, such means comprising a strap attached to the elongated casings on the outer side thereof and passing under the arm pits of the wearer.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GUSTAVE KRIEGER. V VILLIAM K. TALLMAN. Witnesses W. H. MiLLIKEN, W. V. TRAVIS. 

